Law Of Singapore, Dog Licensing Petition

An online petition filed Jul 12 by “Agency for Animal Welfare” with more than 2,518 signatures in support of a petition urging the Minister and Senior Minister of State, the Ministry of National Development and her relevant agencies to allow Singapore HDB residents to keep a second dog.

“The ruling needs to change so that when shelters can no longer accept abandoned dogs bought and chucked, there is still another avenue to find kindness in Singapore homes via a 2nd dog adjustment in policy for adoption of rescued dogs. We believe that the Minister and Minster of State at MND are wise, kind and reasonable men who can consider our appeal and petition to cause a change that bears the mark of kindness and it will be a balanced policy because only the responsible pet-keepers stringently screened will be given this privilege to adopt and house a 2nd dog, abiding by the Community Pet-keepers’ Code of responsible pet-keeping that promotes community harmony.”

“We petition for a positive review of this policy to permit the allowance of the keeping of a 2nd dog that is acquired through adoption for residents living in a Singapore HDB flat to enable homeless dogs to find homes.”

Licensing of dogs for HDB residential premises—under the Housing and Development Board (Animals) Rules 1989, HDB allows only one dog of an approved small breed per residential unit. Failure to comply with this legislation can result in a fine of up to S$4,000 upon conviction according to Singapore law.

Only a maximum of three dogs are allowed per private premises (non-HDB). Special permission must be obtained from AVA to keep more than three dogs.

A Singaporean resident said, “Maybe we could challenge HDB’s rules on the accepted dog breeds, and allow dogs that are ‘Medium’ in size too. I believe the main reason why they have acceptable dog breeds is to prevent disturbance to the neighbors. Perhaps they should revise their policy to allow more ‘trainable’ dog breeds. They can also make sure that neighbors sign an agreement stating that they allow their fellow neighbors to get a larger dog.”